Did you know that Dave has one of two, custom-made Bass Trombones that he built at MusiCare? Read below about the amazing horn, in his own words!
“I built this for a fellow member of the 25th army band, to play the 4th trombone part in the jazz band. We ordered in the parts and I added the three rotors here and the levers to operate them and then when you play with the slide and the valves it is similar to an Italian chimbasa (cimbasso), an operatic instrument that was played very early on. it did not have a side, it was just set on the floor and the bell went straight out. This one, however, you can play with either the slide or with the valves, or you can use the hand slide to tune the lower notes while using the 4th valve.”
“The levers are french horn levers that I modified. I built the frame to hold the levers. When I built it I had to move the brace and when I played the high B flat, it played a wolf tone, the horn would sing along with it. I placed the levers at the “null point” so that the high B flat wouldn’t sympathetically ring.“
“My friend was a tuba player and he wanted to play the 4th trombone part, but didn’t want to learn the trombone positions. My favorite part of the project was that it worked! I got the parts in and put it together in a day and a half but it took almost 2 months to make it work because I had to create the linkage to the levers and use the bell crank to change the angle. The levers are made from a model airplane.”
Dave has used this horn for over 40 years. At that time, the only repair outside of regular maintenance for the instrument was repairing a solder joint on one of the stop arms. The person the instrument was originally built for was someone who had studied watch repair and could appreciate the intricate linkage arms that Dave designed.
This instrument is an excellent example of Daves’s ability to recognize a musician’s unique needs and then to design, and manufacture something that works for them! Dave helps them to be the best musicians they can be because at MusiCare, we care about you and your Music!
